Land Grabbing: Ogun files criminal charges against Obas, others

The Ogun State Government has filed charges against two traditional rulers and other persons, with respect to acts of land grabbing across the State. This was revealed in a statement signed by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the State, Oluwasina Ogungbade.

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According to the statement, the State Government filed charges of forceful takeover of land and forcible entry of land contrary to law against Oba Fatai Matanmi, the Onijoko of Ijoko Ota, as facts uncovered in investigation revealed that Oba Matanmi sold a parcel of land in 1976 for 22,000 to one Madam Irokosu, now late. The statement added that in her lifetime, Madam Irokosu fenced the land and sold it in 2016 to the complainant who immediately took possession, adding that following her demise, Oba Matanmi began to harass the complainant, claiming that late Madam Irokosu owed him a balance of N28,000. Although this claim was bogus, the complainant paid 5,000,000 to Oba Matanmi to let peace reign, but the Oba continued to harass the complainant, leading to the charges filed in HCT/84R/2025 The State v. Oba Fatai Matanmi.

Similarly, the State slammed another Oba, Yusuf Olasunkanmi, the Olu of Orile-Igbon, a town in Igbesa area of Ogun State, with charges of forceful entry into a land using intermediaries, and unlawfully appropriating land belonging to a complainant and many other persons. Using cover of a judgment obtained against third parties, Oba Olasunkanmi allegedly commissioned the attachment of land and enforcement of the judgment in areas more than one kilometre away from the judgment land. The Oba, the statement added, then chased away the legitimate occupants of the land. He will be arraigned on Thursday 25 September 2025.

Further, the State has also filed charges against another two persons Chief Lekan Agbogun and Chief Akinbowale Beckley who sold a complainant’s property in Mosafejo area of Abeokuta, without authority. These accused connived and sold a third party’s property to a buyer overseas without any title claim or documents to the land and despite the presence of the complainant’s existing building on the land.

Mr Ogungbade said : “While these defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty, the State has filed these charges as a further demonstration of the State’s commitment to tackle land grabbing and criminal dealings regarding land. “The State Government assures the public that no matter the personalities involved, where the facts warrant and it is in the public interest to do so, the State will resist and redress all land grabbing actions that come to its notice.”